Men's Water Polo Has Sights Set on LMU

By Tom Schreier

The task this year for the men's water polo team is simple: beat Loyola Marymount University. "They're the team to beat in our conference," said coach Keith Wilbur, who is in his ninth season at Santa Clara.

The No. 11 LMU Lions have won the Western Water Polo Association title four years in a row. However, senior Marcus Akerland feels that the Broncos can change that trend this year.

"I've never beat LMU," said Akerland, "but I expect us to win (this year) because we're the better team."

In the SoCal Tournament, which was held last weekend in Long Beach, Santa Clara lost a hard-fought battle with LMU, 11-10.

The game started with LMU scoring four-straight goals. The Broncos clawed back, took a 7-6 lead, but could not hang on.

"The guys played well," said Wilbur, "and it showed our team that, ‘Hey, we're capable of beating the best in our conference.'"

Santa Clara has the veteran presence that could help turn the tide on the Lions. Of the six players who have started all 15 games this year, only sophomore Tucker Carlson is an underclassman.

Daley Meistrell, Marcus Akerland, James Case and goaltender Michael Wishart are all seniors. Patrick Weiss is the lone junior in the starting lineup.

"We have really good leadership this year," said Wilbur.

"It's an interesting group. A couple of those guys like (Case) and Wishart started as freshmen. The other guys have developed and worked their way up, but they all have a lot of experience."

Experience is key, says senior goaltender Michael Wishart, who has started every game in net since his freshman year.

"I'm learning more from coach and the older guys... over the course of the years," he said.

In terms of physique the team is somewhat smaller than it was last season.

Marcus Akerland (6'2", 175), James Case (6'1", 185) and Patrick Weiss (5'10", 190) are filling big shoes following the graduation of Mitch Klipa (6'6", 245), Nick Poggetti (6'5", 220) and Stephen Hobbs (6'2", 220).

"Yeah, we're for sure a smaller team," says Akerland, who is tied with Case for the team lead in goals (both with 17), "but we're also faster and play better team defense."

Last year, he said, the team relied too much on Klipa to guard the middle of the pool.

"We kind of let him do his thing knowing we could just chill on the perimeter," admitted Akerland, "but now we've got to be more active to help (our) teammates more and play better team defense."    

Although the lack of size is not ideal, the Broncos understand that they will be able to use their smaller stature as an advantage in the water.

"It's good to have some size out there," said Wilbur, who re-vamped some schemes in the offseason in order to increase offense on the counterattacks. "But the guys who are older, they're quick and pick up the tempo of the game."

Increased responsibility has been laid on Case, the fastest swimmer in the pool.

"It's nice this year," says Case, who is thriving in a more up-tempo system. "With the six-man counterattack, it's a lot easier to get counterattack goals like that."

As teams have begun to concentrate on Case, he's found openings that were not there last year.

"People are collapsing on me and it's easier for me to find people when they think you're the shooter," said Case, who also leads the team with 19 assists. "I've had fun with giving guys assists and it's definitely improved my game."

The formula for success is simple for the Broncos: speed and composure must trump lack of size if this team is going to win the WWPA.

And, as it has for the past few years, the conference will have to go through LMU.

Contact Tom Schreier at tschreier@scu.edu or at (408) 551-1918.